President Petulant still governing by temper tantrum

“President Obama has officially canceled his trip to Asia. He said he didn’t want to be in Indonesia not doing anything to solve the crisis when he could be in Washington not doing anything to solve it.

“Actually, it’s the perfect time for President Obama to go to Asia. I mean, what better time to leave Joe Biden in charge of the country than during a shutdown?

“Obama’s exploitation of the government shutdown (never let a good crisis go to waste) is a classic old method mastered by the likes of CPUSA. It’s standard operating procedure. What you’re witnessing is Barack Obama’s ‘shutdown campaign’ — and with the liberal media dutifully on his side to amplify the effort.

“Here today, in our new America, our own federal government has gotten into the propaganda business full throttle. Its exploitation of the shutdown is shameless. Sure, we expect congressional Democrats to accuse Republicans of starving children, old people, kittens, puppies, fish, and birds; of wanting to kill your grandmother; of gleefully polluting the atmosphere; of hating black people, gays, Latinos, women; of hoping no child gets an education or a school lunch. You know the drill. Democrats do this regardless of whether they have the White House. …

“But the performance has reached a higher, uglier decibel level under the Obama administration. This is hardly a surprise, given Barack Obama’s upbringing, mentors, radical associates, and the crucial fact that he was a community organizer who studied and taught Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals. That was Obama’s formative experience for his job today, and it has equipped him for the task at hand. …

“As has been reported, and is unmistakably evident to all but the most naïve, federal employees have been ordered to exploit this crisis, to make the government shutdown as uncomfortable as they can. The White House is actively soliciting complaints from the general public on ‘how the government shutdown has affected you.’ These testimonies are tools sought for the propaganda kit; the better to agitate with.” —Paul Kengor

“Almost a million non-essential government employees were let go. Well, isn’t that the problem, that there’s that many non-essential employees?” —David Letterman

“Government wants you to play a role in the ‘shutdown’ of the federal government. Your role is to panic.

“Republicans and Democrats both assume that shutting some government is a terrible thing. The press concurs. ‘Shutdown threatens fragile economy,’ warns Politico. ‘Federal workers turn to prayer,’ laments The Washington Post.

“If the public starts noticing that life goes on as usual without all 3.4 million federal workers, we might get dangerous ideas, like doing without so much government. Politicians don’t want that. They’d rather have us worry about how America will cope.

“President Obama gave a speech where he actually said we need to keep government open for the sake of people like the person working for the Department of Agriculture ‘out there helping some farmers make sure that they’re making some modest profit,’ and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ‘helping somebody buy a house for the first time.’

“Give me a break. Farmers don’t need bureaucrats to teach them how to make a profit, and Americans can buy first homes without HUD helping a chosen few. Americans would make more profit and afford better homes if they didn’t have to spend a third of national income on federal taxes.” —John Stossel

“Nonessential government services have been put on hold. Flight safety inspectors furloughed. National monuments closed. The Grand Canyon is closed — they filled it with spackle. Passport offices have been closed too. Interesting fact: Passport lines take exactly the same amount of time whether the passport office is open or not.” —Jimmy Kimmel

“Could this be the end of Monument Syndrome? Across the country, ordinary Americans are rising up in revolt against the old Washington tactic of closing public parks and memorials during selective government ‘shutdowns’ to score political points. Tax-paying tourists are tossing off the orange traffic cones and ‘Barrycades.’ Enough is enough. …

“From closing down parts of the ocean around Florida to booting elderly citizens from their private homes on Lake Mead to shutting down private restaurants and farms that just happen to sit on federal land, the Democrats’ overreach has finally backfired.

“The explanation for this ridiculous Obama obstructionism can be summed up in one word: Control. Control of the people. Control of the partisan narrative. Monument Syndrome, perfected under the Clinton administration, is about inflicting the most visible pain on citizens to demonize political opponents. Big-government advocates in the media enabled the manipulators.

“Democrats have shut down government because they want to fine you for not buying a product you don’t want from a website that doesn’t work.” —Rep. Steve Stockman

“The shutdown means the national zoo is closed. Who’ll feed the animals? Is anyone even there to lock them up at night? Pretty soon starving lions and tigers could charge out of the zoo. They’d devour the fattest, dumbest people on Capitol Hill. Actually that might be the answer to all of the problems.” —Craig Ferguson